James Temple is one of   Mathnasium Learning Centers’ most successful multi-unit franchisees, but his career in education franchising began with a partnership close to home. In 2009, he and his mother took over a struggling learning center, combining their skills and experience to create a business with staying power. “My mom and I have a nice combination of experiences that fit well with   Mathnasium ,” Temple said. “On my side, I have loved math since I was a little kid in elementary school. I think it became easier to be good at it. Which comes first? Are you good at it and then you like it, or do you like it and you’re good at it? Perhaps it’s some of both. But I was both good at it and I liked it, so I got to spend extra time on it and became really good at it.” Temple also had the benefit of a business education, while his mother brought decades of work with children to the table. “I’m good at math, I’ve gone to school for business, and I like kids, so Mathnasium was a good fit for me,” he said. “Tack on top of that, my mom had a career in early childhood education, so she had a tremendous amount of experience working with children and a passion for serving them. That just put her in a great place to complement what I was bringing to the table.” Choosing a Resale Over a New Build When Temple and his mother entered the Mathnasium system, the brand was still in its early growth stage. They acquired an existing location after connecting with the owner during their research into the business. “The franchise was really young at the time — maybe there were 125 units in September of 2009 when we acquired our first location,” Temple said. “We had gotten to know that owner as a result of doing our due diligence, and it was a good market, especially compared to the market we were living in and looking at. It became a better opportunity in that regard.” The resale gave them the benefit of stepping into a center that was already open and operating. “There’s a lot that’s done for you already — the location is selected, it’s built out, there’s a customer base, something to build upon,” he said. “It was the combination of an easier start and a better market.” Scaling Beyond the First Market Several years later, Temple made a move that would change the scope of his business. His seventh location marked the first time he expanded outside his home market, opening the door to growth across greater distances. “That opened a whole new geography. It proved to us that we could run these things a long drive from our home and that a new opportunity existed,” he said. “It was that seventh location when we moved outside of our original market that I believed it could be something big because it was now much more scalable.” From there, his decisions about expansion were guided by market conditions, resources and operational capacity, with each acquisition offering lessons for the next. People Before Everything Else Temple’s rapid growth created new challenges, particularly when it came to building and leading a team. “Number one has to be people,” he said. “We’re in the math business, but we’re very much in the people business — not just on the customer side, but on the team side as well.” His approach to staffing focuses on developing talent from within whenever possible, while also recruiting externally when the right fit isn’t already in the organization. “Over the years, we’ve hired a lot of instructors who wanted to do more and had the potential to do more,” he said. “That’s our pipeline to a lot of the leadership within the company. Make sure you’re protective of your culture, your customers, your families, your students, and that you’re picking the right people.” Learning To Let Go As his business expanded, Temple began delegating day-to-day operations to leadership within the company. That shift didn’t happen overnight. “It happens over time and several years,” he said. “If you’re committed to scaling and you’re confident you’ve found the right people, then you make the jump and trust them to get the job done. You’re there to support them as they go through that process. It’s iterative — it can be a step back and two steps forward to make long-term progress.” Building a Sales Culture Temple maintains that success in the business depends on consistent relationship-building, not just initial sign-ups. “We are always selling because we want our customers to stay with us long term,” he said. “You need that initial trust to get the initial sale, but to keep the customer for the ongoing sale, you need someone who can build relationships and continue to build value for the customer and serve them well. Most people forget that second part. They see success as getting that initial trust, but the real value is in the long-term trust.” This philosophy has helped the business retain students for years, creating a stable base that supports long-term growth. “All In on Mathnasium” Today, Temple’s focus remains squarely on Mathnasium and the opportunities it offers. His business now spans 24 locations and generates $10 million in revenue annually, but he remains motivated by the same mission that got him started. “We’re all in on Mathnasium,” he said. “I believe there’s a lot of opportunity, and we want to continue to pursue that opportunity and serve more students.” To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit  https://1851franchise.com/mathnasium .